Automatic identification and tracking of objects in three dimensional space utilizing only a standard web cam is difficult in that there is no simple way of determining distance from the camera. Furthermore, selecting a particular object from a plurality of objects may be difficult in that lack of depth perception does not allow for the differentiation of these objects based on position in a direction comprising distance from the camera (z-axis direction). Complicated images may therefore result in an unacceptable number of false positive or false negative responses.
Application of such a tracking scheme to a pill management system may be particularly troublesome in that a pill or other medication may be small, and may be colored similarly to a background object such as the shirt of a user, wall or other object. Furthermore, the user may move the pill or other medication quickly through the field of view of the camera. If implemented on a mobile device or the like, movement of the device in addition to movement of the pill may contribute to tracking difficulties, as may various environmental difficulties, such as poor lighting, background noise and the like. These variables may contribute to a very challenging situation for pill identification and tracking over time.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus that overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.